After 2 high-risk pregnancies, NC’s proposed abortion ban frightens me | Opinion

I was 13 weeks pregnant when I had my first dilation and evacuation (D&E) and 20 weeks when I had my second. In both cases, the pregnancies were incredibly, deeply wanted. In both cases, miscarriage and medical complications threatened my life. In both cases, the thought that my doctor might deny me care for fear of criminal prosecution, or not be trained in the surgery I needed, or not have a legally registered facility in which to provide that care, was never considered.

I was confident in the care I was receiving, able to focus on the thousand other worries and heartbreaks of those agonizing days. As I contemplate the prospect of future, high-risk pregnancies, I can no longer take that confidence for granted.

The dangerous legislation that Republicans just rammed through our General Assembly does a lot more than ban abortions at 12 weeks, as they claim. This legislation would make access to reproductive healthcare impossible for most women because of requirements that aren’t medically necessary and are only intended to render most clinics illegal.

These changes aren’t driven by medical advice, but to achieve political goals.

Jenny Black, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said “...not a single Planned Parenthood clinic in the state would comply with the medically unnecessary building standards required in this bill” — and Planned Parenthood is the largest provider in the state. Smaller independent clinics may have to close under the daunting financial burden of bringing buildings into compliance.

That’s just the supply side. This legislation also triples the required visits for women seeking medication abortions — 60% of N.C. abortions are performed via prescription. There is no medical reason for this burdensome restriction. The impact of these changes will be felt most acutely by poor women, women of color, and those living in rural areas.

The impact of this 12-week abortion ban would be the same across the state: Providers will have to suspend services temporarily or indefinitely to come into medically unnecessary compliance. Women juggling work and families (60% of those who have abortions already have one child) will be drained of time and resources to seek care that would have otherwise been readily available.

Women and infants will pay the price of this dangerous political posturing. Some surrounding states have seen up to a 62% increase in maternal mortality since the imposition of various bans.

I’m vice chair of the North Carolina Council for Women, and according to our research this state already gets a “D” for women’s health and wellness under the existing 20-week restriction. And, North Carolina has the 11th highest infant mortality rate nationally.

Legislators know these restrictions neither improve health nor are supported by most North Carolinians. They negotiated in secret and bypassed the standard process. They denied any meaningful input from medical experts or the public, and they know doctors don’t support this.

According to a 2023 Meredith College poll, 57% of North Carolinians want to keep or expand our current laws on abortion. Legislators know this. That’s why they’ve tried to deny the voice of the people and avoid a transparent, accountable hearing of the facts.

This issue shouldn’t be partisan. In South Carolina, Republican women linked arms with Democrats and led a successful bipartisan filibuster to forestall a dangerous abortion ban. I salute them and hope they’ll be a harbinger of bravery and solidarity in our state.

I’ve spent the last 15 years of my career joining hands with women on both sides of the aisle to defend the dignity, rights and bodily autonomy of women. I’ve seen women of all political stripes, regions and religions — regardless of class or community — stand up to demand their basic freedom to live, labor and love unfettered by political interference.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of one of the procedures in question when heartbreak and heartbeat were on the line, I am hoping against hope that this bill shall not pass.